Brazilian restaurant Cabana has raised £15,000 for Brazilian children’s charity Action for Brazil’s Children Trust (ABC Trust) by asking customers to add 50p to their bill over the past two months.
Cabana created a dish as part of the promotion to encourage diners to get involved with the donations to ABC Trust.
The charity works to ensure children have the right to a safe childhood and an education to help them reach their potential in life. It works with young children who are at risk of being groomed into joining drugs gangs in Rio. ABC Trust’s project partner IBISS works in the heart of this community to provide a positive alternative. It uses sport to teach children the importance of education, encouraging them to go to school and linking them to vocational training. It also convinces young people already in gangs to leave and choose a new life for themselves.
The fundraising coincided with the release of Universal Picture’s film Trash about street kids living in Rio
Cabana founder and director, David Ponte, said: “Since we opened our first Cabana in 2011 we have looked to support ABC Trust as much as we can, and we were thrilled when the opportunity arose for us to create such a great campaign with our friends at Universal. The response to the promotion has been tremendous and we hope we can find even bigger and better ways to support ABC in the future.”
Chief executive of ABC Trust, Tiffany Garside, said: “As a small charity specialising in Brazil we have the flexibility to go off the beaten path and work in some of the toughest places known only to locals, supporting innovative, grassroots projects. Our ability to do this depends on visionary partners in the UK, like Cabana who choose to invest in the unseen children, often perceived as ‘Rubbish’ by society, helping us to give them a voice and empower them to change their lives.”
